Chilln'

another micro!!!

I'm a X-mass cacher. We went camping with some friends who took us caching in the fall. The whole family had a great time. The wife got me a very simple gps for X-mass. So far I have 80 finds. I think geo-caching is great!! My wife and kids are slowing. athou they go from time to time the rush is over. I think its the not knowing how hard is it going to be to find the cache or whats in the cache that has alot to do with it. Funny thing is I like the unknown.

????????If they were there when it was hidden how did they FIND IT???????? Its first to find. Not first to sign the log.

It seems to me that the NPS will not change with the times. I remember reading an article about NPS run campgrounds and banning RVs. The article stated that the parks are losing money every year to privatly run campgrounds but they refuse to update to accomodate RVs. They have even started banning RV's all together in some of there parks making a similar argument as banning geocaching. To me I think the the NPS is being run by stuck in the past mentality. There mission should be to open up the parks to as many activates they can as long as the land is not abused. Geocaching usually involves placing in a remote area a physical cache containing a variety of objects in a weatherproof container. According to the geocaching.com web site, the basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the location coordinates of these caches on the internet. Hand held GPS devices can then be used to find the caches. Geocaching is viewed as a type of “treasure hunt” where participants search for hidden caches using hand held GPS devices. The notion of a “treasure hunt” immediately sets off an alarm for NPS managers because it implies that the “hunters” will be placing caches in unapproved areas, digging up park resources and damaging the park environment. Obviously, much as we want park visitors to enjoy their experience, we cannot allow a GPS activity if it would lead to destructive behavior. Burying caches would generally violate 36 CFR 2.1(a), and could violate other regulations, as well. WOW!! “hunters” and "digging up park resources and damaging the park environment" this is what they think? We need to remember that the NPS is a government run agency as such the people hold the power. The misinformed need to be informed. Maybe its time Groundspeak starts lobbying DC becomes more political.

I cache with my blackberry. I use AT&T as my carrier. For $10 a month you can get the AT&T navigator by teli-nav. It gives you turn by turn directions in 3d as good as any gps I've seen. For $40 per year you can get the geocache navigator by trimble which allows you to use any phone with a gps as your gps unit for caching. The best advantage to this option is as long as you have cell coverage you can find caches near you anywhere in the world without a pc or downloading a new area into your gps. There are some down sides. A blackberry is not water proff and the monthly phone fees for a blackberry are about $30 per month more.

I do think high-tec gps, map reading, exploring the unknown, searching for treasure and ect... is more associated with men. As a male this is exactly why I enjoy geocaching. I wonder if females who geocache do it for the same reasons or at the core they doing for other more traditionaly female reasons. I have 2 kids. One boy. One Girl. My son and I sometimes pretend were on an army mission. He finds a stick to be his rifle. We even take turns walking point. My daughter never joins in but she loves to think about what kind of swag will be in the cache. If we do a micro cache she protests. For her its the prize not the adventure. Just a thought